Why Newsom's Wi-Fi Deal Should Be Rejected and What Other California Cities Can Learn From San Francisco's Experience

The second problem was the fact that the Newsom administration had decided upon the methodology they wanted without studying whether it was the best way to achieve their goals. As a technology consultant, I see this problem often with decision makers saying what they want to do instead of what they want to accomplish and more often than not their ideas are not the best means to their ends. In San Francisco's case, this was the insistence upon a free, privately-funded Wi-Fi network. The problem is that this won't achieve the goals of a fast, secure, reliable, and inclusive system. As most expects will explain, to explore Wi-Fi absent a fiber-optic component will not allow the City the system San Franciscans deserve and need.

However, recent events at San Francisco City Hall have provided San Francisco the opportunity to reject the corporate deal that locks San Francisco into an awful system. The most important developments are the Budget Analyst's Municipal Wi-Fi report and the fact that San Francisco is looking at a budget surplus two to four times the amount of the cost for the "Can Do City" to just do municipal Wi-Fi -- while developing the much needed fiber-optic backbone to move beyond a hub-and-spoke network.

There is precedent in San Francisco for such a move, Newsom himself used a larger amount of general fund money for his 311 phone system. If San Francisco will spend more money for what would have been the best practice for Dianne Feinstein to do when she was mayor, then San Franciscans deserve the Board of Supervisors to provide the leadership necessary for the internet communication system our City deserves in this millennium.

We need to get this right. The Google/Earthlink deal deserves to be rejected with the Board moving quickly to fund a capable municipal system.

Last July, the California Progress report to an initial look at municipal Wi-Fi best practices. Tomorrow's hearing is at the SF Board of Supervisor's Budget and Finance Committee. The meeting begins at 1PM with feasibility and municipal broadband the last two items on the agenda.

Bob Brigham is a San Francisco based consultant who specializes in online communication. He posts under the handle 'blogswarm' in his free time.